I'm making some more pieces with strips, this time on thin fabric, so no paper to tear off!

Carol, I have sewn my strips without backing so far and have had good luck. I hate tearing paper and didn't have anything lightweight enough in fabric to use. I have made crazy-quilt-style 18" blocks using old sheets for backing (very old and thin) but this was 30 to 40 years ago. Surprisingly, the old sheeting has held up well. I used no batting in this quilt, just 18" used flannel from old nightgowns and pajamas for the backing. It has been washed so many times since I made it, that it should be a rag, but I have had to mend only 2 seams recently. It has been used so many abusive ways in all these years with 5 children. It traveled to Canada 1 week every year for over 20 years and has also been used for a back-seat cover in the truck to keep mud and manure off the seats! We now have it on our bed as a light-weight quilt for cool summer and fall nights. It is faded and not-so-pretty, but very useful. I need to make another before this one DOES fall apart!! I have many small pieces to use up that are too small for strips. My strips have to be almost 4" or more long to make the 3 1/2" strips - most usable size for me.

You didn't mislead me. I could see that there was no way to tube-cut these strips. There are so many ways to use these strips of strings. I need to try using them in some traditional blocks and see what I can come up with. Most of Bonnie Hunter's quilts use strips in color families and I don't have that many strips that would match for many of her quilts. I need to get her new book - I have all the rest, signed by her, but haven't ordered this one yet. I decided to wait until she had the new book rush over. I should order it now.

Thanks, Leslie, I am partial to reds for borders and bindings. I just bought another 3 yds. of tonal red print to use just for this purpose for these scrap quilts. My other favorite is a denim blue and black small check which I use for the same purpose. I am trying to find some more of that - - - on sale, of course!!!

Thank you, Robin. These small tops are fun - they are small enough to handle and give me something small to try out new patterns. I love to design, resize blocks, and play around with colors. Scrappy quilts were hard for me to get used to - I am a control freak! You will see that in some of my scrappy quilts. These diamond strings are the first I have made without so much control. I love this pattern and need to dig out the boxes of scraps from when I was making girls dresses so many years ago. (Our girls are now 51, 50, and nearly 49). I will have to dig deep in our one storage closet upstairs. They will be buried in the back. Who knows what is there. MNNancy gave me an idea for Fidget Quilts for those that like to rub and feel things with their hands. I have lots of corduroy, plush, silky fabrics, double-knit, etc. that would give texture to a small quilt. She posted some she made at the Levenworth Retreat. These would be even smaller to work on so would be perfect for aching hands days. FMQ textures would be interesting for these along with floppy, fuzzy ears and other protruding things they can handle. The wheels are turning as I write this! Need to quilt these tops FIRST!

I made a small strings block quilt for a lap cover for a friend's mother - then on to the next string X - here it is. Then back to the tube method, I have the string blocks done, have to cut the triangle blocks now and put it together. I have decided to make use of a bright orange sheet set that is a size I don't need. The fitted sheet has some damage right in the center, so will cut the strips from it, then use the flat sheet for the backing. Happy Halloween, I guess!

I started another one with teal instead of muslin, and this time I'm going to put it together in the diamond pattern with sashing. All the blocks are done, but I'm going to have to put it up for a week while I finish blocks for a swap I'm participating in on another forum. To tone it down a bit I am planning on using black marbles for the sashing. Here is a sample of what it will look like. I'll probably border it with the black along with a narrow strip of gold.

Brigit-Carol

I would never have thought of using teal - it is one of my favorite colors and It really accents all the colors here. The black sashing will look very good with the teal and accents the blacks in your strips.

My next one will have a dark background, probably pinwheels again, since I really like my first one. I had thought of using black and probably will. If I had a deep enough red, that would be my first choice, but I have to use what is in my stash for now.

Your teal and black diamonds looks great! It is really different than your first blue one! Nice work. Looking forward to seeing more blocks when you have time to get back to this project.

I found a bag of strings in the attic so have started sewing them. I really like the diamond strings but am tempted to combine the Diamond strings somehow with the log cabin strings Caryl posted. Not sure yet how that will work...